Former educator in Woodford, Fayette pleads guilty to rape of student

A former educator in the Woodford and Fayette County schools pleaded guilty Wednesday to the third-degree rape and third-degree sodomy of a student younger than 16.

Lindsey Banta Jarvis, 28, faces a recommended sentence of 18 months in prison after entering the plea in Woodford Circuit Court. She was charged in Woodford and Fayette counties for offenses involving the same student.

She was a social studies teacher in Woodford County before she became a para-educator (sometimes referred to as an instructional assistant or aide) for Fayette County schools. She resigned last year.

As part of the plea agreement, another charge of unlawful transaction with a minor was dismissed.

Premium content for only $0.99

Woodford Circuit Judge Brian Privett scheduled sentencing for Dec. 5. After a request from defense attorney Jim Lowry, Jarvis will begin home incarceration without an ankle bracelet until sentencing.

The school where the male student attended and county where he lived have not been released.

The investigation began in August 2016 when a Versailles police officer found Jarvis and the boy, then 15, in a car at 1:17 a.m. at a Woodford County park.

The patrol officer learned the boy had sneaked out of his home without permission to meet Jarvis, who is married. Further investigation revealed the two had become friends, began texting and then started a sexual relationship.

The two would meet in parks, taking precautions that no one would see them together, court records said. On three occasions, Jarvis drove the boy to her Lexington home, where they would have sex.

The boy gave Lexington police details of the interior of the Jarvis house, including the entrance, stairs, bedroom and master bathroom, a police affidavit said.

The boy’s cell phone contained correspondence suggesting that he and Jarvis were in a romantic relationship, according to an arrest report filed in Fayette District Court.

Another criminal case against Jarvis is pending in Fayette County, where she is charged with third-degree rape, a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.

A status hearing in that case is scheduled for Friday before Fayette Circuit Judge Pamela Goodwine. The case has come up on the docket five times from December to August but was rescheduled for later dates because of “evidentiary issues,” according to court records.